26. Integrity is mainly about having ideals
Ideals are a matter of what SPs want to achieve for society. SPs cannot have integrity without ideals, because ideals give direction and authenticity. Without these, SPs degenerate into pragmatists and technocrats. SPs with integrity have ideals they really believe in.
In the previous chapters we looked at how personal integrity, in terms of identity and expectations of others, can turn against a person. In this respect integrity is a negative concept: it is a threat, a risk, a danger. However, integrity is also a positive concept. If a person is said to have integrity, this is not so much a matter of what they do not do, but primarily about what they actually do. Ideals are a necessary condition for this. An SP cannot have integrity without ideals, so a pragmatist, someone who does not believe in ideals (or takes pragmatism as the ideal), cannot have integrity.
Ideals are about what motivates people and what they stand for. This is a question of higher personal aims. Ideals relate to people’s reasons for taking office and what they hope to achieve, hence going beyond what the position prescribes in terms of rules and behavior. From the perspective of integrity, when it comes to ideals it is a question of what SPs want to mean to others and society, how they intend to serve the people, and where they intend to make a positive contribution. For example, ideals may relate to improving the position of a particular group (such as the disadvantaged, the disabled, or immigrants) or an issue one wants to address (such as the environment, employment protection, or traffic safety). Ideals can also be couched in ultimate values, doctrines, or principles to which people devote their efforts, such as solidarity, freedom, and sustainability.
Having ideals is necessary for an SP because it gives direction and makes people goal oriented. As one party stated in its manifesto, “A politician without ideals is like a ship without a compass: adrift.”129 Ideals give color and authenticity. A role is not carried out mechanically, despite the presence of the required virtues, but is personified: the position is fulfilled through ideals and commitments. The ideals are the connective tissue between personal identity and integrity.
Without ideals SPs degenerate into pragmatists or technocrats, something they are often accused of and criticized for, a common stumbling block. As a disappointed congresswoman said of her own party, “I thought it was about ideas and I had those. But that’s not what it’s about. It’s about feasibility within the coalition. There is not much enthusiasm here.” As another member of congress said, “We talk too little about the Big Issues… We never discuss Higher Matters. We stand for our own little domains.”130 At the same time this explains why SPs such as Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Nelson Mandela were admired. They had big ideals, ideas about others and a better society.
In order to discover and determine their own ideas SPs can ask themselves why. Why am I taking up this position? Why am I an SP? As a candidate for the US vice presidency Sarah Palin answered these questions as follows: “Politics isn’t just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.”131 And US senator Paul Wellstone replied as follows: “Politics isn’t about big money or power games; it’s about the improvement of people’s lives.”132 It is also about whether people really believe in their own answers. As one member of congress said, “If you want to become a good politician, you have to believe in what you do.”133